TransCanada Corp. was partly denied a request to continue some pre-construction work on the Keystone XL oil pipeline while a dispute over the project’s environmental review wends its way through the courts.

Cenovus Energy Inc. is forging ahead with plans to expand its rail shipments of crude to U.S. refiners, even as some peers dial back, in a bet that pricing for Canadian heavy crude will soon shift to make those shipments more economical.

A year ago, things appeared to be looking up for Canada’s oil patch, but that proved unfounded. In early 2019, more uncertainty and pessimism are in the air, and little on the horizon provides hope for improvement.

Suncor Energy Inc. CEO Steve Williams said he expects Alberta’s mandated oil-production cuts to end earlier than planned after the program boosted heavy crude prices so much that it made purchases unprofitable for U.S. refiners.

In its first update to the 2019 Canadian Drilling Activity Forecast, the Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC) has revised the number of wells drilled (rig released) across Canada for 2019 to 5,600 wells.

In their quest to make one of the most expensive methods of producing crude more profitable, Canada’s oil-sands companies have been ramping up efforts to get their thick bitumen to flow through pipelines more easily and cheaply.